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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. rule — government
  3. court — for sport
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. swing — in golf
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. last — final
  8. bat — the animal
  9. sharp — clever
  10. swing — to play on
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. swing — music
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. cell — a phone
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. last — to go on
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. rule — a law
  22. last — finally
  23. court — of a king
  24. cell — in biology

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com